Menezes family 'sickened' at 'unbelievable' decision

Last updated at 22:03 17 July 2006

The family of Jean Charles de Menezes today described the decision not to charge any individual police officers over his death as "unbelievable".

They were responding to the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to charge the Met with failing to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Mr de Menezes on the day he was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers.

Scotland Yard said it was "concerned and clearly disappointed" at the decision to bring a prosecution under health and safety laws.

However, other members of the de Menezes family told a packed press conference of their disbelief.

Cousin Patricia da Silva Armani, who lived with Mr de Menezes in London, said: "We have been waiting for a year now.

"I am very disappointed, I was expecting a negative reply and it is shameful."

She said the police had treated her cousin like a "dead animal".

She told reporters: "My cousin was shot, they took my cousin's life inside an underground station."

"The authorities, in reality, they did not have any shame.

"I feel sickened by that."

The prosecution of the Metropolitan Police under health and safety laws "does not make any sense" said cousin Alessandro Pereira.

Mr Pereira added that the de Menezes family was disappointed that the outcome of the CPS probe had taken so long - almost a year to the day since the shooting.

Asad Rehman, for the Justice4Jean campaign group, who was with the family when they received the news this morning, said: "They will be very, very disappointed if no officers are held to account for their actions.

"The family do not think health and safety regulations are an appropriate way to hold the police accountable over this issue.

"They will be considering all their legal options to ensure that somebody is answerable in a court of law."

The family's legal options include seeking a judicial review of the CPS's decision, pursuing a private prosecution, awaiting the outcome of the inquest, or launching a civil case for damages.

Mr de Menezes, an electrician, was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers at Stockwell Tube station in south London on July 22 last year after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.

It is understood that the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is likely to be critical of the CPS decision to pursue a health and safety case.

The authority is expected to issue a statement later this afternoon.

Holiday

Commissioner Sir Ian Blair returned from holiday today and is back at his desk to handle the fall-out from the decision.

He has been under pressure for some time, but it is unclear what the CPS decision means for his position.

The IPCC revealed that its report had considered the actions of 15 individual police officers.

It is not the first time in recent years that the Met has faced a high-profile prosecution under health and safety laws.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) came under fire in 2003 after spending an estimated £3 million on a failed prosecution against Sir Ian's two predecessors.

Former Met Commissioners Lord Stevens and Lord Condon were taken to court by the HSE for failing to protect their own officers after one died and another was seriously injured when they fell through roofs while pursuing suspects.

The top officers were cleared by a jury at the Old Bailey in June 2003.

MPA member Damian Hockney said the decision to prosecute the Met under health and safety legislation was a "big mistake".

"It will not satisfy those who believe that the police should not be prosecuted, and it will look like an insult or a cover-up to those who do," he said.

The events at Stockwell were a "tragic mistake", he added.

"A long and damaging case on this could cost lives in the future," he warned.

"The Met's action last July were designed to protect the public, and Sir Ian Blair must back his force fully and resist these charges."

The former head of operations for CO19, the Met Police's specialist firearms unit, Superintendent Phil Manns, said the news would be a "massive relief" for individual officers.

However, he told Sky News: "I am disappointed for the organisation to be prosecuted but there is an opportunity now for the facts to come out."

Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Glen Smyth said the decision not to prosecute individual officers was the right one.

"Everybody accepts that was an incident we would all prefer had not happened and the outcome was not as it was," he said.

"But the individual actions that led to this incident do not amount to the criminal standard of proof that people have acted unlawfully."

Police Federation chairman Jan Berry also welcomed the decision.

She added: "I echo the views of my colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Federation that any internal disciplinary matters that may arise as a result of the IPCC investigation are dealt with in an open and transparent way and as quickly as possible."